The Mother of All Singles’ Days

11.11 or Singles’ ‘Day’ 2018 officially launched last week, with about 500,000 items available for pre-order on Tmall. The world’s biggest shopping festival has long been a yardstick for Chinese consumer sentiment and spending, and this year it will be watched particularly closely. Sales over the 24-hour period will provide some indication of the impact that slowing GDP and the Trade War is having on consumption – the sector that Beijing hopes will keep the economy chugging along. This year will mark the 10th anniversary of 11.11 and will be Jack Ma’s last before he ‘retires’, so there are plenty of reasons Alibaba will be wanting to blow last year’s $25.3 billion in gross merchandise volume out of the water.

At the heart of 11.11, Tmall will engage 180,000 Chinese and global brands. Tmall Global will provide 3,700 categories of imported goods from 75 countries and regions. And beyond China, Alibaba’s Lazada will aim to make Singles’ Day as much as an event in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, helped along by Google and Line joining together to promote the event. Altogether, Alibaba hopes to break the billion order mark on November 11. Given last year’s orders grew from 657 million to 812 million, and the many new dimensions in 2018, we think this could be conservative.

One of the interesting dynamics for Singles’ Day this year is Pinduoduo entering the mix. Singles’ Day was built around special deals, which no one does better than the Pin. It also has a stronghold in lower tier cities which have been more challenging to reach over previous Singles’ Days. There are reports of Tmall pressuring some brands to choose between its platform and Pinduoduo, so clearly Alibaba feels they will make an impact. One thing for sure is that it will make the day even more interesting.

For our readers who are participating in Singles’ Day, we wish you all the best in building awareness, launching new products or whatever else you are planning to achieve. We hope you are using it as a Trojan Horse to build more sustainable engagement with consumers.